Still Half Empty
by The Obsidian Pen
Summary: An opportunity lost, only when he started learning of the heart did fate see it right to remove him from the world, but not permanently. Ulquiorra Cifer would have his chance, but more so he'd have a teacher, only it wouldn't be the same world he left, and the teacher wasn't what he expected.
1. Breathing

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 **This is a story I was meant to make after AHP, but now 3 different stories later, I made it. Ah well, pitchforks and torches aside, here we go. Just FYI, you'll be seeing the character's thoughts from a third person perspective.**

 **The fun part in making this is having the wiki open because I can't spell Bleach terms for shit.**

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 **Ulquiorra, People's Favorite, Emotionless Bastard With An Ashen Fate; You're Not Meant To Like Him, He's Here For Story's Sake!**

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 **Chapter One: Breathing**

Too late, he understood it too late, he thought for the hundredth time.

Ulquiorra wanted to look at his hand where the woman reached for, but he could no longer see, nor even move for that matter. That heart she spoke of, so naively right to his end, he thought he saw it. So immaterial, but there regardless. He wanted to know more about it, and why she'd give him part of her heart.

Alas, in this inky blackness, he only had his thoughts for eternity. It was strange, this was death after death, a complete void? No one knew what happened when a soul dies, at least nothing Aizen told them about.

It didn't matter in the end, Ulquiorra would just have to think on this heart, what else is there to do? He had so many questions, but no one to ask but himself, and he knew that he understood it least.

That woman, Inoue Orihime, she gave him her heart, but without even touching him, yet he knew that she did. How when it was so intangible? Why would she do that to her captor? He didn't know, never would. It wasn't a situation he preferred, but it was one he had no choice but to accept. Perhaps he'd think more about this heart.

". . ."

He didn't know what to think of it and turned his thoughts somewhere else.

". . ."

Lord Aizen won the fight, surely. The boy, Kurosaki Ichigo, was powerful, yes, but won't be enough to beat Lord Aizen. He lost control when using his Hollow powers, the boy was unrefined still, it won't be enough against someone like the former captain.

It didn't matter, it had nothing to do with him anymore.

". . ."

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was likely to die soon, thankfully. For a meager Espada who ranked sixth and believed himself twice as strong, he would no doubt try fighting several strong Reapers. It sounded like something that buffoon would do and die in the process. As long as Grimmjow didn't come beside him in this void, then all was well.

Well, that didn't matter at this point.

". . ."

What else where there to do? Ulquiorra sighed out of boredom. If this was all he could do, then-

He sighed?

That shouldn't be happening. His whole body was turned to ash in what felt like hours ago, yet he was able to breathe again? He took in a deep breath, something he wasn't able to do until just then. Had his lungs reformed? Impossible, the injuries were to severe for his regeneration to work.

Yet here he was, _breathing_ , and he felt a muscle spasm. His arm had come back, or at least his shoulder had, he wasn't sure of he the rest. . . No, he has them, he could feel his fingers grow into existence just now.

A full confusing minute passed, the entire time Ulquiorra was questioning what was going on. This was not his regeneration, it was something else, something that was out of his control. Was it nature or the work of someone powerful? He didn't know, how could he?

He felt his eyes form, seeing nothing but the inky blackness of his lids, and that was the final regeneration. He didn't even hesitate to open them, and what he saw was the night sky, a familiar sight he'd seen for centuries.

"Heuco Mundo," he said out loud as he laid down on the soft sand. That starless night sky and that moon was not something he'd ever forget. "How?"

Ulquiorra picked himself and looked at himself. He was naked, so it helped him see that he was in his unreleased state, seemingly unaltered. His skin was stark white as it always was, nothing outwardly seemed to have changed. He brought up his hand, and felt the hole below his neck still there, as was his half helmet, all of it was still there. He even examined his reiryoku and it proved that it was untampered with, if low but slowly rising. More so, at his feet was a sword, his sword, still in its sheath. He leaned down and picked up Murciélago, feeling the familiarity of it, this fragment of himself, also seemingly untampered with.

Now all that was left was his surroundings. He vividly remembered his fight with Kurosaki Ichigo and the destruction that it made in their area of Las Noches, but the surroundings were excessively damaged in a way that something more must've happened.

Did the Soul Reapers' invasion succeed? Have they destroyed Heuco Mundo and its inhabitants? It was a sound conclusion, but not quite so. His pesquisa was able to detect on living being in in the area, and it seemed to be the only one he could find in all of Las Noches.

He made his way to find this person, but he kept his senses sharp if there was any other source of Reiatsu. More than that, he kept an eye at the desolate hallways around him, looking for splashes of blood or even fallen masks, but there were none. Besides the rubble or fallen pillars of stone, the place was devoid of anything.

The more he walked to the source, the more he recognized the dilapidated route he was taking. It may be in ruins, but this was definitely the road to Lord Aizen's throne room, but it wasn't his Reiatsu, it was far too weak to be his, nor for any Espada for that matter.

Minutes later, he walked through the broken doors of the throne room, and similarly to everywhere else, it was in ruins. Light from the crescent moon above illuminating the white walls and stairs that lead up to the throne itself.

And on said throne was a person, someone Ulquiorra didn't recognize on sight, but the Reiatsu felt familiar.

The person on the throne stirred. "Hmm, who's there?" the raspy voice asked as Ulquiorra audibly walked up the stairs to see who it was. "I can hear you, so speak." He wouldn't answer, not yet. The person seemed more agitated the closer and louder he got.

Now standing in front of who turned out to be an elderly woman, her hair white and long to the point it was falling from the sides of the throne, below even the side of the plateau the throne was on and unto the floor meters below. Her wardrobe looked as though it was pristine and white once, now it was ragged and ripped. Her body had shrunk, as her clothes were baggy and loose, the collar practically covered her entire face, the way she slouched hadn't helped.

"Hmm?" she sounded as her old, grey eyes moved above the collar, squinting as she looked to him, showing how her eyes have deteriorated over the years. "Speak your name."

"Ulquiorra Cifer," he answered.

The woman hummed. "I know that name, at least I believe I do." She leaned in closer, her wrinkled hands moved to touch his bare chest. He allowed her, even ignoring her long nails scraping his hierro, stopping just when it was over his Espada number. "Yes, I know you, don't I?" she asked as she brought her hand back.

"Who are you?"

Her head tilted to the side. "I don't remember," she answered simply. "I know I have a name, but I can't recall what it is."

"Where is everyone?"

"Gone," she said, then furrowed her brows as she tried to remember. "Not dead, I don't think so, just not here in. . . wherever we are." She leaned back tiredly. "They left. That sounds correct."

Nothing from this woman made sense. "If they left, then why are you still here?"

She exhaled a heavy breath. "I don't remember. I'm. . . waiting? No, that's not true." She rubbed her head. "I'm supposed to be here, I. . . live here? Yes, I live here."

"Nonsense." It didn't seem like she was lying, just senile. "You may be an Arrancar, but you do not live here." He would know of such an elderly Arrancar in Las Noches other than Barragan, this woman was an untrustworthy source of information, but it seemed she was his only option.

"Arrancar," she said nostalgically. "I haven't heard that word in so long. Yes, I'm an Arrancar, but more than that, I'm an. . ." She strained to find this elusive word, then it dawned on her. "Espada. I'm an Espada."

That was impossible, this trash was genuinely confused and senile. He was going to refute her statement, but something caught his eye. To the side leaning on the ruined throne, there was a sword still in its sheath. A familiar sword, which led to an interesting assumption.

Looking back to the woman, he saw her in a new light. He reached across, the woman unmoving and uncaring, or maybe her vision was too poor to see it approaching.

He grabbed the top of the collar that was loosely covering most of her face and pulled it down. He saw the remnant of her Hollow mask, the sharp teeth covering the lower half of her wrinkled face. "Tier Harribel," he said confused.

She hummed. "Is that my name? It sounds familiar."

"It's your name," he answered, to which she simply nodded and accepted it uncaringly. It was undoubtably her, the very feel of her Reiatsu felt familiar, and now he knew why. "What happened here?"

The elderly Tier shook her head. "I don't remember. All I remember was that they were here, and now they're not." This didn't help at all.

"Do you not remember the Reaper incursion?" Her face strained to remember. "Lord Aizen's invasion of Karakura Town, all that we worked for a century to achieve."

She shook her head again. "I can't remember. How long ago was that, a thousand years ago? No, more than that, far more." More than a millennium? That was interesting, and even answered a few questions, but not all.

"Tier Harribel, did you bring me here?"

She chuckled bemusedly. "My abilities and powers have deteriorated with my age, I can't even bring forth my Resurrección. I've done nothing to bring you here."

The more Ulquiorra thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case. Her Reiatsu was low, far lower than even a low level Arrancar would have. More than that, it wasn't rising, if anything it was slowly dwindling. From the amount he could sense, she'd die within the century.

"What more can you tell me?" he asked her. "Why are there no Hollows in Las Noches?"

"Las Noches? Yes, that's the name of this place, I remember that now." She looked back to him. "Everyone left. You won't find anyone here Las Noches, nor anywhere outside. This entire dimension is empty except for me, that much I remember."

He'd have asked 'why?' again, but she already answered that. She hadn't seemed to be lying, otherwise he would've sensed any kind of Hollow. Clearly something happened within the time he was absent, a long enough absence that the fortress itself was deteriorating to dust.

It only felt like hours since he fought with Kurosaki Ichigo, but for it to might actually be several millennia since? Evidence suggested it was so, as this living one right in front of him said. The next question was how he was brought here.

It's unthinkable that he was revived by chance, but he was unsure if there was anyone who's able or would even do so. The only one he knew that could be able to do so was the Soul King, but there was no reason for him to do so. Likely he'd never find out.

Another interesting thing came from Tier Harribel that had him thinking. She said that the Hollows _left_ , and if it was like she inconclusively reiterated, they weren't killed. That assumes it was under their own volition, and even if it wasn't, what would prompt such? The answer wasn't going to be found here.

Where would they leave to? There were two distinct answers; Soul Society and the human world. Would there be surviving Espada there? Perhaps in the human world, unlikely in Soul Society. If so, then they likely would be as useful as Harribel right now.

"So, Ulquiorra Cifer, what do you intend to do?" Tier asked suddenly. "Would you like to reside here in Las Noches with me?"

He could, but it didn't really appeal to him. It would be safe, and any intruder would be easily sensed considering the lack of others, so it wasn't bad choice. He'd have liked to find Inoue Orihime to see more of this heart, but that was impossible now.

He could search Soul Society for her, but the Reapers would no doubt chase and fight him. He didn't like his chances facing all of the Gotei 13 alone. . . but the heart.

"I'll leave for Soul Society," he answered finally. "There might be someone there who could tell me on the topic of the heart." It was worth the risk, he had to know more.

Harribel hummed. "That place, it's like a whisper in my mind that I can't recall." But she can't remember. Her age has ruined her. "If that is your decision, then so be it."

She wouldn't even try to stop him? Likely she knew she couldn't. "There's nothing here but rubble and sand. Why not leave this place?" He didn't care if she stayed or not, but the fact she stayed here for so long was irrational and pointless. Was this also about the heart?

Again, she gave a low bemused chuckle. "After being here for so long, there's no longer a point. I know there was a reason I stayed while they all left, but. . ." She can't remember.

"How long ago since everyone left?"

She tried to shrug. "A millennium, maybe two, maybe three. I lost track of time after being here for so long." That was neither helpful nor informative.

"If that's all you can tell me, then we're done here." He was annoyed that she wasn't more helpful and turned to leave the throne room.

"If you're leaving, I don't recommend going to the human world, Ulquiorra Cifer," Harribel said, prompting him to stop, but he did not turn to face her. "I may not remember why, but I trust myself in knowing that I stayed away from there for a good reason. Should you go, it might prove dangerous."

He only gave it a second of silent thought before continuing down the steps. Another answer that was more interesting the more he deciphered it, whether she knew it or not.

As he exited the throne room, he thought more on what she said. When he mentioned that he would leave for Soul Society, she hadn't given a sort of reaction, but she cautioned him of the _human world_.

Did she know what she cautioning, or was it something more intrinsic? He'd have asked her to explain, but Harribel clearly wouldn't know, which was why it was interesting. She didn't remember why she stayed here avoiding the human world, but she _felt_ that she should, enough to even warn him of it and still remember that it existed.

Interesting words from a dying woman.

* * *

Through the garganta, Ulquiorra Cifer stepped through and stepped onto Soul Society, the first time he had in several millennia. He wore his Espada wardrobe, which was a fortunate find considering how Las Noches was, if for no more than to strap Murciélago to his waist than holding onto it the entire time.

He looked around the area known as Rukongai, expecting to see wondering souls, it would've been evidence that he had a chance in finding Inoue Orihime and learn more about the heart, but that was no longer the case.

In his view, there weren't any standing houses, all of which looked as though they've deteriorated from age into heaps of wood and textiles. As for the wandering souls, there were none, whether they 'left' like the Hollows of Heuco Mundo or not was unknown.

Unlike in Heuco Mundo however, his pesquisa hadn't picked up a single source of Reiatsu. As far as he could sense, Soul Society was uninhabited. _'Perhaps it's the range,'_ he thought. His sensory abilities were among the best in the Espada, but they had a limited range still.

The Cuatro Espada flew up, and dashed forward while in the air, scanning as much as he could from Rukongai for a sign of life, but it seemed like it would be a fruitless, even using his sonido to have his pesquisa search farther in a shorter amount of time.

Half an hour of searching, half an hour of finding nothing besides natural reiryoku that filled the area in forms of vegetation or fallen structures, now all that was left was Seritei itself. He didn't know much about Rukongai outside of what Aizen had told them, mostly slums full of people who weren't powerful enough to be Reapers. They were little better than cannon fodder, but they were plentiful, yet he couldn't find a single one.

He passed the famed barrier of Shakonmaku and was officially within Seritei. Still flying above, he focused his pesquisa to sense any source of Reiatsu as he moved through the air. He was half expecting to be ambushed by the Onmitsukidō, Lord Aizen told them about their impressive stealth abilities, but so far, they haven't even shown themselves.

The buildings were as much in ruins as Rukongai, the sekkiseki walls being the only thing standing in full. _'It seems age has taken its toll in Soul Society as they have in Heuco Mundo.'_ This compound was massive, as it should be if it housed thirteen different divisions, but all that meant was a city of rubble.

The larger buildings made of stone stood still, if eroded in some areas, but nothing was in them, he could sense as much. The more he searched this empty city, the more aggravated he became. Even the infamous twelfth division was in ruins, their archives, digital and physical, were either ruined, incomprehensible, or simply destroyed.

Everything made of paper had turned to dust, anything technical was destroyed by time and weather after several millennia. The objective to search their archives for what happened was a failure, but it did tell him that whatever happened to Heuco Mundo affected the Reapers as well.

 _'A cataclysmic event?'_ It had to be if it affected both other dimensions. _'If it destroyed the human world, it would explain the lack of Hollows and Reapers, they'd have died with no one to replace them.'_ But Harribel didn't say they died, she said they left, and she almost strictly said that they weren't killed.

After hours of searching, he accepted the fact that there was no one in Soul Society, more annoyed that the woman wasn't here. After feeling some of it, he wanted to know about this heart, this thing that gave that woman power in her own way. Maybe it didn't have to be from her, perhaps he could see and study it personally from others. Surely it was possible.

After seeing what Heuco Mundo and Soul Society had, there left only one outlier, the one place that seemed to spook someone as powerful Harribel to stay in Las Noches for several millennia.

Ulquiorra snapped his fingers, summoning a tear within this dimension, the smoky pathway that would eventually lead to the human world. Before he could step through, he considered again that warning Harribel had given him.

Tier Harribel was not trash, if there was something that forced her to take refuge in Las Noches, then it wasn't something small. Still, he couldn't sit idly just when he began understanding the heart and emotions.

With that thought in mind, he stepped into the garganta. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but suspected a vast amount of destruction, nothing less would scare the Tres Espada into hiding. He prepared himself as stepped into the other side.

His view was that of the blue sky as he stood on air, and below was an explosion of lush greenery from the forest and fauna. The air itself was clean and fresh, as though smoke and smog had never touched it.

How anticlimactic.

Ulquiorra descended to the ground to have a closer look, landing with barely a sound. _'Harribel is truly senile.'_ There was nothing here, no fields of cinder and ash, no bones from humans long dead, nothing but life at every turn. What a waste.

But there was something a bit peculiar, his pesquisa sensed a bit more reishi in the air and plants around him, even the insects held a degree of it. Kishi still made up most of all matter, but to think they held far more reishi than before was irregular enough to note. Besides that, he didn't sense any human near him, no bustling city that should be Karakura.

He flew back up, high enough to have a good lay of the land. Just as his pesquisa sensed, the entire town was missing, not a building sight. In fact, the geography itself seemed to have changed. This was the coordinate he input for the descorrer, this was Karakura.

But it clearly wasn't.

The event that brought Harribel to heel must've shifted the terrain, or perhaps it changed as time passed, but that brought the question of the people. Such a metropolis would not disappear so easily if it was merely shifted terrain.

Regardless, the next best thing to learn of what happened was searching for signs of sentient life.

He used his sonido and dashed forward, ignoring the signs of regular fauna for a full minute and looking for- And he sensed them already, a stark contrast compared to Heuco Mundo and Soul Society.

There were people here, they weren't all dead. So why was there no one in either soul dimensions?

The village he approached was small in comparison to Karakura, at least from the number of humans he could sense. He knew he was among the best of the Espada for using sonido, he knew he traveled too far a distance to only see humans now.

When he appeared in the air some distance away from the settlement, and it was a new, interesting development. Karakura was a large city, buildings high and built from steel and concrete. This place looked as though it was on a far smaller scale than that of Karakura, what's more was that this village was surrounding by a stone wall. Perhaps this wasn't a village, but rather an independent nation.

As for the people, he couldn't see them, but his pesquisa said they were there, especially near the village center. Just like the flora and terrain, there was a curious increase of reishi composing them, a few he could sense having enough to have their own level of Reiatsu.

It was increasing the amount of questions he had. How has reishi become so much more prominent in the human world? Why do humans have so much, some even enough to show Reiatsu? This was becoming complicated.

He moved in closer but stayed high enough to see the lay of the village nearer to the mass of humans. With the increase of spiritual energy among these mortals, he was expecting to see some change, but all he saw was a congregation of people with signs, shouting 'Faunus Rights Now!' and 'Mistral's Slave Labor Mining Unacceptable!'.

Of all the changes an increase of reishi could give, animal parts weren't something he knew could happen. Ulquiorra spotted tails, horns, scales, and even elongated fangs.

At the opposite end, he saw normal humans in uniform, behind them were normal humans dressed casually, holding signs like 'Animal's Stop Breeding!' or 'Animal's Don't Equal Humans!'. If there were still unchanged people, then it might not have been the increase of reiryoku.

He kept an eye on as the events unfolded and was able to sense fluctuations in the collective Reiatsu. It was a curious development, and it erupted into a clash as the humans began throwing rocks at the other group.

Whatever order there was descended into chaos. Signs were used as weapons, voices for rights used to shout slurs and profanity. Was this also part of what made the heart? Surely with so many humans, heart had to have a part to play.

The clash kept going on for several minutes until this village's police force split them apart, showing a sort of bias against the animalistic humans, which only served to increase the fluctuations.

For a moment, he felt something behind him in the forest, a kind of familiar feeling approaching.

"We just want us to have rights!" he heard someone say below the air he stood upon. When he looked, it was from a young girl with feline ears, backed into a corner within an alleyway against two adult, normal men. "My friends can't be working the mines here, it's too dangerous to leave it like that. They'll die!"

'Friends', that word popped out, more so because the girl seemed to express genuine concern, as did the Inoue Orihime did to her companions during the Kurosaki boy's incursion.

One of the men snarled. "Let them die, animals are easily replaced," he said. "Around here, you White Fang are nothing but trouble for the past week, and we had enough. Get out, or we force you out." The girl was surprisingly unflinching.

"Faunus have only two places here in Moromori," the second one chimed in as he stepped closer. "In the mines working for the betterment of man, or dead."

The girl, Faunus apparently, looked aghast. "We're people too! We feel love, we have friends, desires. What's wrong with hoping for a better future?"

Clearly they didn't like what she was insinuating, and one picked up a fallen tree branch. "Animals that bark too loud get put down," one of them spat and approached.

Whatever bravery within the girl had started dwindling, holding her sign closely for whatever comfort it could provide. However, the girl didn't run away, seemed as though she knew she couldn't, and whatever was coming her way was her own making in goading these two.

They were simply trash fighting, but only two were slightly larger, it was easy to see who'd win in this fight with fatal consequences, and all because the smaller one wanted to try talking her way into their minds. Ulquiorra saw a similar woman several millennia ago, she was horribly weak, but it didn't have her lose her stance even against someone like him or Lord Aizen.

Her heart just wouldn't allow it, and it seemed this girl's heart didn't have her refute what she just said and beg for forgiveness.

As one of the trash raised the branch to strike her, the girl cried for someone by the name of 'Adam', and his pesquisa picked up a being reacting to it and seemed to be coming in this direction, but would come a little too late.

Sound exploded has Ulquiorra used his sonido just as the brunch struck his forearm, doing little to no damage besides slightly dirtying his sleeve.

Trash looked him up and down with a look of disgust. "Fucking animal-loving Hunts-" was all he said before he flew to the brick wall from Ulquiorra's light backhand. He slid to the ground and didn't get back up, and considering the reishi leaking out, that trash was dead.

He looked to the second, wide-eyed threat to the girl, and looked like he was just about to scream, but another backhand left him in a similar state as his comrade, dead. A shattered spine and neck, perhaps? It didn't matter, trash was trash.

What mattered was that this girl would knew something about the heart, otherwise it was a pointless endeavor.

He turned around and fully faced the subject at hand, who was still quivering from the previous threat, or perhaps his Reiatsu was too much and she was just able to withstand it.

"Do I scare you, girl?" he asked the teary-eyed girl, she didn't answer, couldn't bring herself to. Maybe he was projecting Inoue Orihime on this girl too much, that woman wouldn't have shown her fear.

The girl rubbed her eyes. "I'm not scared," she answered him. "Thank you for helping me, mister." She looked to the two that were slumped and dead. "Are they going to be okay?"

Curious, she cares for their wellbeing even though they were going to harm her, perhaps she was similar to that woman. "Does it matter? They were going to kill you, you shouldn't care."

She swallowed heavily, eyeing the branch now on the ground. "I guess. . . But did you have to be so rough, though? They look really hurt."

"They were trash and were unfortunate enough to oppose me. They received what they deserved."

"Blake!" someone shouted from behind. He turned to see a young boy with red hair and horns. The boy looked to the two corpses, then to Ulquiorra. "What's going on here?"

"Adam!" she shouted with relief as she dropped the sign and ran to the boy, engulfing him in a tearful embrace. He recalled how Inoue Orihime reacted when the Kurosaki boy came to recover her, this held similarities. The boy was quick to reciprocate her affection, but did not keep his eye off of Ulquiorra.

Once they separated, he looked to her with clear concern. "What happened here, Blake?" he asked her. "After the protest broke up, Ilia and I couldn't find you anywhere."

She rubbed her eyes from the tears again. "Sorry, I got lost and was cornered by two humans." Adam looked to the two corpses with suspicion. "I tried talking to them like mom and dad would want, but. . ." His look turned to one of contempt and anger. "But it's okay, mister here came and saved me!"

The boy looked to Ulquiorra with surprise. "He did?" The girl nodded, having him scratch the back of his head and make his way to him. "Thanks a lot," he said when he stopped close enough. "Not many go around helping us Faunus, especially after a protest." He begrudgingly outstretched his hand towards him. "Thank you for saving Blake."

Faunus, so that's what these people are called. A brand-new species, different from regular humans, and considering the sign the girl, Blake, was carrying, they had their own insignia; a red head of a predator with a claw mark.

"Are you going to shake my hand or what?" Adam asked, noticing that Ulquiorra's hands hadn't moved from his pockets. "Or is it you don't like us Fau-"

"Hey!" A human man shouted as he came to view from the alley. "What are you animals-!" He froze at the sight of two slump bodies, turned around from once he came and shouted further. "Help! Someone get the guards here!"

Guards? As though that would do any good. He was holding onto his Reiatsu to prevent the pressure from killing the girl before she could tell him more about emotions and heart. If he were to release it, then-

The girl ran to Ulquiorra, grabbed his sleeve, and tried to pull him. "Mister, we need to go before the humans get here." He didn't budge, but this girl didn't give up and kept pulling. "Come on!"

"Just leave him," Adam said, more agitated than before as he ran to the way the human left and kept watch. "We have to go south, find Sienna, and leave Moromori before they blame us for these two downed thugs, _now!_ "

If the boy was concerned about people arriving, he'd be correct. Ulquiorra could detect the human from before speaking to a small group of men, just as they started to go the way back here.

It changed nothing, no one in this village was strong enough to even bring out his sword, even the few that had larger Reiatsu levels than the normal villagers. Yet these children, specifically the girl wanted to leave with him in tow. It'd be amiss to dissuade her when he finally met someone similar to that woman. "Will you tell me about the heart and emotions?"

"What?" she asked, puzzled but didn't stop her pull.

"Guards are coming!" Adam informed, running to the opposite side. "Blake, leave him, we need to go."

Blake didn't let up and looked to Ulquiorra with clear desperation. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want, let's just go before it's too- _Wah!_ "

He picked up Blake, flashed behind Adam, picked him up as well, and used sonido and vanished outside of the village and dropped the two onto the grass. He'd have fought whatever opposition came their way, but if they were so desperate to leave, so be it. As long as the girl told him more about the heart.

" _Urgh_." Both Blake and Adam dropped to their knees and vomited on the ground. As far as his skills on sonido went, he went light to make sure they didn't die. "You're a- _Urk_ \- a Huntsman?" Adam asked after a second's rest, but still hiccupped between his words.

"No, I'm an Espada," he said, but they didn't seem to care, their focus primarily aimed on trying to stop what the sonido had done to them.

Adam stood on shaky legs and wiped his mouth. " _Ugh,_ that was bad. . . Where even are we?" he asked as he looked around the forest.

"As you spoke about finding this Sienna in the south, so I took you to the southern forest where I sensed a small gathering of who I assume were your people."

Now Blake stood up, rubbing her tongue on her forearm. "You can sense people? Wow, Huntsmen, or Espada I guess, you guys sure are something." He heard her stomach rumble which had her cradle her stomach and groan.

Adam however looked around the forest, focusing on a damaged tree. "Those scratches on the trees are of our making, I think the airship we came in with is a bit more south." Then Ulquiorra was right, the humans he sensed, or Faunus as it were, were their people.

"If so, then we can travel the same way I brough-"

"No!" both of them shouted, Adam cleared his throat. "I think we can make our way on foot, not to surprise them we came with a human and all."

"I'm not a human."

The boy blinked and tilted his head. "You're a Faunus?" He moved in for a closer look, any other day he'd have died from the Reiatsu. "I mean, your eyes are pretty cat-like." Ulquiorra grabbed the zipper of his collar and drew it down just enough. "Oh. . . holy shit."

"What is it?" Blake asked as she peered around her companion, then froze stiff.

"I'm neither human nor Faunus, I'm an Arrancar."

* * *

 **Ulquiorra is an interesting character, because he is the epitome of 'I don't give a shit'. Most people would have more animated responses to situations. Anger, despair, or even happiness, but he's "Is that the case? Okay then, here's my overly rational response". Some special moments prompt a bigger reaction, but generally that's the case.**

 **To those who'll inevitably ask if there's a pairing with Ulquiorra, here's my answer:** _ **HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_

 **Reviews are appreciated.**


	2. Meeting

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 **Had to repost this since a few people I know didn't get the notification email and I had to make sure, sorry for the false update.**

 **Glad to see this was received better than I expected. If you know who Ulquiorra is, he isn't a character meant to be sympathized with, but it can't be denied he's an interesting character for simply seeing how he reacts to his surroundings and vice versa.**

* * *

 **Blake And Adam, Two Vigorous People Who Want To Fight The Social Bubble; Let's Hope They're Ready For A Different Kind Of Hollow Trouble!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Meeting**

The girl, Blake, rubbed her eyes at the sight of his Hollow hole. When she moved for a closer look, the boy, Adam, put an arm out and stopped her, his face full of worry. "What are you?" he asked, taking a few steps back with the girl.

"As I said, I'm an Arrancar who holds the rank of Espada."

"That literally means nothing!" No, Cifer supposed it wouldn't to them. "What _are_ you?"

The answer didn't seem to work, so why would it a second time? "While my answer was what I am, but for your terms, I suppose a ghost would be apt." It was a simple answer that didn't fully describe his nature, but it wasn't wrong.

"A ghost?" Blake voiced with clear uncertainty, still eyeing that hole below his neck. "Mister, no ghost ever was known to have a-" she audibly gulped "-have a hole that goes straight through them."

She quivered when he brought his eyes to her, though Adam's evident, protective nature immediately moved her behind him. He wouldn't be wrong to see Ulquiorra as a threat, his very reiatsu was enough to kill them both if he wasn't holding it back.

"I called myself a ghost due to it being a term you might understand," Ulquiorra said. "In truth, an Arrancar is a far more complicated version."

"I'm sure," Adam said, his eyes darting around the area. He was looking for an escape, but Ulquiorra couldn't allow that just yet. "What do you want with us, monster?"

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed.

The boy looked to her. "This thing's clearly not human or faunus, what else do you think he could be?"

As Blake struggled to respond, Ulquiorra interjected. "He is not wrong to call me so, Arrancars are indeed monsters to you." Both of them gave him their attention once more. "The way we are created is by feeding on the souls of people such as yourselves." Their reiatsu fluctuated, indicating a rise in panic. "Though I have since controlled these urges to the point to no longer feel the need to consume."

"Yeah, that's comforting," Adam said, now increasing his pace backward with the girl. His eyes widened when Ulquiorra vanished with a low boom.

"If I wanted you both dead, I'd have left you both to those humans back in the settlement." Both children turned with a shout, tripping amongst themselves onto the ground. "Your apprehensiveness is misplaced."

As the boy reached for a stick and picked himself up, Ulquiorra felt that familiar feeling from before but coming closer. It was. . . odd, familiar but not quite so.

"If you think we'll go down quietly, you've got another thing coming," the boy said as he held the stick across himself, standing between him and Blake.

"Adam, calm down!" Blake said. "He _saved_ me, remember, he can't be all that bad." The fluctuations of the two's miniscule reiatsu seemed to attract this familiar energy he was sensing.

There was a strange hunger to it, like it was striving for the fluctuations that the two children were exuding. The closer it got- no, the closer _they_ got, the more pronounced the hunger became.

Ulquiorra drew his hand from his pocket and formed a fist, ready to shoot a bala at whatever this interruption could be. This caught the attention of the two faunus. "Wait, mister, calm down, I'm sure Adam didn't really mean to-"

The two's sensory abilities weren't on par with his, but the way she stopped talking said even she could feel the vibrations and hear the sounds of an approaching creature. Even the boy turned his head to the source, his guard now away from Cifer.

"Adam. . ." Blake said slowly, stepping away from the trees and even closer to the Arrancar. The boy didn't answer, he just growled, moved in front of her and turned his unthreatening stick towards the source of the strange energy. Whatever this threat was, the boy deemed it a priority even with Ulquiorra's presence.

Then they walked through, three large, black bears with bone masks, and when the three set their sights on the three people in the forest, Ulquiorra sensed their. . . craving, if that's what it was, like a desire to join them, to _bring_ the two children with them.

As the first one began to hungrily stomp its way to the children, Blake shrieked, somehow driving the bear's craving to consume her to increase. It wasn't right to say it was an urge to consume, it was more of an urge to. . . meld, perhaps? It was similar to a Hollow's obsessive desire on someone. Complicated and vague, hard to pinpoint exactly what it was.

That being said, these creatures were Hollows, but not entirely as evident with the lack of a chest cavity. Seems Harribel was right, they weren't killed, they've become something else.

Adam didn't move, his reiatsu indicated an intense amount of stress at the sight of this large, black creature making its way, but he didn't move. From Ulquiorra's experience with Kurosaki, the boy felt that only he could protect the girl.

The creature began to gallop the rest of the distance towards the boy, raising its massive paw to tear him apart. And it would, why should Ulquiorra stop it? He only wanted the girl; this other trash was merely a pointless addition.

The boy didn't move out of the way, he shouted a battle cry and swing his strip of wood, a useless gesture considering the creature's large claws would rip through both. The image reminded him of his fight with Kurosaki, how he'd staunchly fight against the odds with nothing but a single weapon and willpower against Ulquiorra to save Orihime.

Though the last to laugh in that fight wasn't Ulquiorra, was it? The Kurosaki's heart wouldn't be shaken. Just like this boy's.

Just before the claw tore through both the stick and the boy, Ulquiorra stood in front of Adam, his arm stopping the bear's strike with his forearm, and ignoring the wood that struck him, likely only dirtied his clothes.

"Can you speak?" he asked the off-Hollow as it tried pushing through his arm, it didn't answer. In fact, it only looked confused. When he looked him in the eye, he'd say it even looked befuddled. "If you cannot answer, then you are of no use to me."

The bear didn't even try to stop Ulquiorra as he reared back his other fist, and punched straight through. It roared in agony, now trying harder to strike him, but it did no damage. As it began to slow and grow limp with his arm skewering it, Ulquiorra grabbed it by the head and tossed it aside. That trash would die on its own.

Looking to the two, remaining off-Hollows, they lifted themselves on their hind legs, roaring at his presence. At first, they seemed like mindless trash, but at least they knew when a predator was near.

Placing his hands back in his pockets, he walked closer, earning two loud growls. "It seems you have a semblance of understanding, but it looks like you've still yet to comprehend the consequences of confronting me."

They were Hollows, at least felt close to one, but had the mental capacity of a Gillian. Evident with how they mindlessly charged him together. Were they expecting it to double their chances of survival? Zero doubled was still zero.

He used his sonido and appeared beside one, delivering a side kick to it, knocking to the other and smashing them through a tree. "I was mistaken, you have zero sense of understanding." He drew out his hand, formed a fist and aimed at the two, dazed bears, his hand coating with red reiatsu. "Regardless, the result would've been the same." When it shot, the bala tore through both creatures' center mass and the trees behind them, both of which fell over to the ground in heaps. _'Trash.'_ Couldn't even last a whole minute.

As he watched the creatures die, what happened a second later supported the theory that these were indeed Hollows, or at least descended of them. As they died, the three disintegrated into ash and were blown away as if by the wind, their reishi literally disappearing. It was an interesting piece of evidence.

With the so-called threat dealt with, he had the matter of two children to answer his questions about the heart. He turned to them, a little confused they decided to stay when at least one of them was apprehensive about him.

The boy still had his feeble, wooden stick, standing in front of the girl who stuck close to him, both looked in awe at his sight. Their reiatsu wasn't as erratic as when the off-Hollows came.

"I. . . wow," Blake voiced in amazement. "Mister, I didn't know you were so strong." Against those trash? It was hardly any effort nor proof of strength. "Thanks for saving us." She looked at Adam. "I told you, he's not bad."

The boy looked less aggressive, even his pathetic weapon was lowered, though it would be foolish if he still thought it would do anything to him after that display.

"I don't know, Blake," the boy mumbled, not tearing away his eyes from the Espada. "What do you want, why would a monster save us?" he asked and ignored the girl's calling of his name for calling him a monster again.

"As I've stated, I wish to understand more so on the heart," Ulquiorra answered again. "Considering you exhibited certain qualities pretraining to it, I believe you would answer my questions and thus I need you alive."

The boy tilted his head, clear confusion on his face. "You're joking, right?"

"I feel no need to jest or 'joke' about my goals."

The boy just shook his head as though the idea was insane. "Make some sense, damn it, or I'll- _Wah!_ " The boy fell to the ground when the Espada suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Or you'll what?" The boy didn't answer, couldn't really besides look up at him worriedly. "My skills outperform yours in every manner, threatening me is unwise as it is baseless."

A curious sight, even after the boy had seen Ulquiorra decimate those trash he couldn't even scar, he still felt the urge to stand up to the Espada. Though this wasn't heart, it was out of simple caution, a simple survival instinct against a liar.

"Wait, mister," Blake said as she stood in front of the boy, helping him up. "I'm sorry about Adam, he's not great with people."

It wasn't Cifer he was surprised at the sudden leadership, however. "What're you doing, Blake?"

She turned on her heels quickly, her face evidently upset as she pointed a finger at her fellow faunus. "Adam, he _saved_ me from those humans, he saved _us_ from the Grimm _,_ " she told him. "We should listen to him, we owe him at least that much."

Was this part of the heart? To ignore the threat he posed and take his actions as though altruistic. . . or maybe it was just naivety; it was hard to tell.

With only grumblings as an answer, she turned back to the Espada. "Mister, I'll help you, Adam will, too." She gave her companion a pointed look when he was about to voice resistance. He shut his mouth, and she turned back to him. "Now that we're friends, I'm Blake, Blake Belladonna." She turned to the boy again.

After a few seconds of silence, the red-haired boy sighed. "Adam Taurus."

It was a pointless venture to introduce themselves, they repeated their names to each other enough that he already confirmed their identities. Though it was always necessary at first, as when he was first created as an Arrancar.

"My name is Ulquiorra Cifer," he introduced himself.

"Ulkorra?" she failed to pronounce his name.

"Ulquiorra."

"U-Ulkee-oora?"

"Ulquiorra."

Her face scrunched. "Ool. . . Ool kee'ara."

"Ulquiorra."

". . . I think I'll just call you Mr. Cifer." It was acceptable, so he nodded.

With that settled, he looked to where the off-Hollows were, at least where they once laid, not even ash in their place. "You called those creatures Grimm; would you expand further on that?"

"The Grimm?" Adam said incredulously. "You don't know about them?" The first clue from his reaction, their existence and nature were common knowledge.

"Due to my absence, I was unaware of their existence until now."

That clearly wasn't the answer that explained to the boy. His tone was almost sarcastic, or just disbelief. "Oh yeah? How long was your absence that you don't even know about freaking Grimm?"

"Five-thousand years is my lowest estimation."

Eyes widened, breath hitched, posture as though they'd been forcefully slapped, as expected from beings that barely live past one-hundred years of age.

"F-F-Five-thousand years!?" Blake exclaimed. "How!?"

"My nature as an Arrancar multiplies my lifespan exponentially compared to yours." Though five-thousand would still show an effect on him, as it did to First Division Captain Yamamoto Genryūsai and Tres Espada Tier Harribel.

He was a special case, however.

"I don't even know what that means!" Seemed his 'ghost' explanation wasn't enough.

"As I've stated, I'm neither human nor faunus but something else entirely," he said again. "Back to the matter, the Grimm, what are they?"

"You really don't know about them, do you?" Adam asked. It would be inaccurate to say he didn't know _anything_ about them, Ulquiorra knew their debatable origins, anything beyond that was purely hypothetical.

"My extended absence until just recently leaves me ignorant on many things in this world." He pointed to the cavity below his neck. "Furthermore, to indicated my time here, I assure you that you are the first people alive to see a creature such as me." He put his hands back in his pockets. "To the matter of these Grimm."

"Oh, right." Blake cleared her throat. "Well, we don't really know that much, only what the older people told us." It was better than nothing, he supposed. "All I remember was that papa told me they like bad thoughts, it draws them."

"Bad thoughts? Explain."

Adam took the lead. "Anger, sadness, stuff like that, Sienna said they. . . Sienna!" he shouted. "We're supposed to rendezvous with Sienna! We need to go, right now."

Sienna was the person they intended to meet, though they've gone on a tangent and pushed that back when the off-Hollows, or Grimm as they're called, appeared.

"What about Ool. . . Mr. Cifer?" Blake asked worriedly.

"What about him?" he replied uncaringly. "He's an excessively-grown man, he can handle himself. We, however, have responsibilities in the White Fang."

"But we had a deal!"

He looked at her as though she was insane. "You were serious about that? Forget about it!"

Blake calmly gestured towards Ulquiorra. "Alright, tell the guy who killed three, big Grimm barehanded, I'm sure he'll take it well." What was the point of the boy telling him? He heard it all clearly from where he was standing.

Whatever the case, the boy froze and stumbled to find the right words. "I-I mean, what're we even supposed to do? We can't take him with us, they're not going to let humans get close, so they definitely won't let this _thing_ even be a hundred meters of 'em."

Since the girl didn't have a rebuttal, it seemed that his presence was unwelcome, which was understandable since these two had an idea of his nature. However, that did not change that they had something he wanted.

"What if we didn't tell them?" she finally said. "What if we hide him?"

"He's not some stray cat you can hide in a closet!" It seemed his presence wasn't just unwanted, but also ignored for the time being as the two talked of him.

Blake didn't look deterred however, and looked to Ulquiorra once more, she shivered when she looked at the hole below his neck.

"Could you zip up your coat?" she asked of him, to which he obliged. "There, see? Now no one can tell the difference." If covering the cavity was enough, then these people were incredibly naïve.

The boy's face seemed to believe it less. "You're joking, right?" He gestured to him. "Look at him, he doesn't look normal in any way."

"He's normal if he's a Huntsman," Blake replied. From the way the boy reacted, that was another term that seemed to hold more weight than it would in his time. "You know they look weirder than normal, so Mr. Cifer blends right in."

"Yeah, hiding with less than an inch of cloth, nothing could go wrong at all." That was sarcasm, Ulquiorra recognized. "What do we tell them? We brought a human with us?"

Blake shook her head. "No, we tell them the truth. . . sort of."

* * *

Blake liked to think of herself more mature than others her age, to approach things calmly and rationally. She even read books above her age, and soon enough she'd start reading the ones in the adult section, and she couldn't help but be excited to read what adults know! That's what dad would've wanted, even if he wasn't leading the White Fang anymore.

She hated that he and mom left, just when things started being better for faunus. Sienna was a little heavy handed with the way she does things, but if things became better quicker, wasn't it worth it?

"You say these Grimm are attracted by certain emotions?" Mr. Cifer asked as the three walked through the woods. "And none know of how they're created or why strive to kill?"

Of all the situations she liked to approach rationally, she had a bit of difficulty making heads or tails of this guy. Of course, she was extremely thankful that Ulkorra- Oloqorra. . . Mr. Cifer saved her from the two humans. She'd never been so scared, the moment that branch rose up, she _knew_ she'd be dead. Not only that, but it happened _again_ when the three Ursa came, but he saved them then, as well.

No more books, no more talking with others in the White Fang to help make Remnant better, no more seeing mom and dad, no more hanging out with Ilia and Adam. But it didn't end up that way thanks to him, and she owed him for that.

"Exactly," she answered. "Mom told me they're mindless monsters, but I guess Huntsmen would know better about them."

"The people trained and responsible in killing these Grimm?" Blake nodded. "The same I am to pretend myself as?" She nodded again. "I see certain flaws in this plan of yours." Erk. . .

"Tell me about it," Adam mumbled.

"If you require details, I already intend to point them out." Adam didn't look thankful for that answer. "To begin with, I have little information regarding Grimm." Erk again. . . "Secondly, due to my nature, I am more of a threat to mankind than even Grimm." Triple erk!

"B-But you said it yourself, you don't eat people anymore." Oh God, what a thing to say so casually like it was a standard. "Besides, it'll be fine, Huntsmen always look unique, and you're definitely unique-looking."

His pure-white face was still set in stone, while they hadn't met long, she couldn't recall him even twitching his lips. No frowns or smiles, not even a raised brow. When he was so cold, why would he want to know about things like emotions and the heart?

Considering the hole in his chest, did he mean the heart literally? She didn't think she owed him _that_ much.

"My image aside," Mr. Cifer said, snapping her away from more gruesome thoughts. "Thirdly, and more importantly, I have no desire nor inclination to follow through with this ruse to hide my nature." Erk central!

"If you don't intend to, then why are you coming with us?" Adam asked heatedly. "If you want to kill Sienna, then you'd have to kill me before I let you!" He stopped walking and turned towards the Arrancar, whatever the world that meant.

The ghost man stopped and turned to Adam, and her heart beat a bit too quickly. Adam was hotheaded at times, sometimes a bit too much to see reason and acted out because of it. Now? Mr. Cifer wouldn't kill them, but her friend was _really_ barking up the wrong tree.

"I have no desire to kill anyone as of yet, since I don't see the need to." His answer was so cold and uncaring it had her shiver at how easily he talked about killing, to choose who to let live or die based on whim. "I want answers to my questions, and I fail to see how meeting this 'Sienna' would aid that, especially under a guise of conformity."

"Your questions about the heart, right?" Blake quickly asked. Mr. Cifer was a good man, ghost, creature thing, he had to be if he saved them, but it looked like he was an even worse people person than Adam. He just didn't understand, that's all.

"They are," he said with a nod. Again, she wondered if he meant the heart literally. "However, I do not require more than you to answer them, but I've also given consideration that Adam Taurus may answer them as well."

Adam perked his head. "That I could answer them as well? And what if I couldn't?"

"Then you wouldn't have been needed in my research."

It was a simple statement and likely didn't mean much, but a chill overcame here when he said it. "You mean kill him?" she asked worriedly. He wasn't a bad man, was he?

"No," he said, and it calmed her. "I would simply not ask him questions as he would've been an unreliable source of information, killing him would be a waste of time and effort." Now that part didn't really help things. "Back to the question, why must I hide my nature?"

Now that she knew he wasn't a murderous sociopath, more or less, it didn't feel as tense. "You want us to answer your questions, right?" He nodded. "Well, things like emotions and heart can't be answered in a day, right?" He didn't answer, merely stared for her to continue. Yeesh, he really didn't know anything about it, does he? "A-Anyway, since it's going to take time, and we have lives of our own, so you'll need to be with us."

She heard Adam grumble some more. Blake knew he wasn't happy about this agreement, but what else could she do? Mr. Cifer saved them both, they owed him, and it was kind of part of the deal ever since he got them out of Moromori.

Surprisingly, Adam answered. "Since normal people aren't going to even want you near them, Blake here wants you to pretend to be something resembling human." Maybe she should've thought things through if Adam really didn't like this. Blake knew he was helping just because Blake wanted it. "A Huntsman who saved two young faunus, Sienna would love it, and maybe even help you for it."

Adam was a good friend and was upset, but anything not faunus he had issues with. He'd understand, she knew he would, just not now.

With Adam's explanation done, the ghost nodded. "So in order to prevent conflict with this Sienna, you wish to hide my identity as to deter a violent reaction." Blake nodded, she was happy he understood her plan. "However, their fighting power is minuscule compared to mine, and judging from the power I'm sensing, they can hardly be called a threat and rationally do not require my compliance." Nevermind. . .

"It's not for you," Adam said heatedly. "It's for us." Considering Mr. Cifer didn't look angry, or anything really, it gave room for an explanation. "You want rational? Okay, you have questions, and apparently, we have answers. Going in like the monster you are will. . . stress things, to say the least. This way, no shouting and calls for pitchforks, and you have your answers quicker in a calmer manner. Rational enough for you?"

A little harsher than she'd have liked, and Adam even pointed out some things she didn't really think of. He's really trying to save the idea she made that he didn't like. It was really heartwarming that he'd do that for her, he really was a good, loyal friend.

"So if I were to learn about emotions, I must consider that of others?" Others being partly them, yes, so she nodded. The Arrancar stayed quiet, and she'd guess he was processing her answer. "I will tolerate this endeavor for the time being, but I demand answers afterward."

Blake breathed a little easier, Mr. Cifer's going to help them help him. From the way he talked, it looked like he was throwing them a bone here, and since he 'wanted to know emotions and the heart', this might actually part of helping him.

"Thank you, Mr. Cifer," Blake said. Maybe teaching him emotions won't be so hard since he's made a concession. "Should we start heading back to Sienna?"

"If that is still both your objective," he answered, then looked to Adam. "I have one more question, however, how is it that the both of your reiatsu levels increased suddenly?"

Their what-now increased?

"Due to your apparent confusion, I assume you are unaware of the increase in spiritual power within both of you." He leaned down a picked two pebbles off the ground. "If it was similar to as when that Grimm attacked, the results should be the same."

She was about to ask what he was talking about, but then looked like he was going to flick one of the rocks at a tree. And when he did, the little stone embedded _into_ the trunk. Wow, that really was ama- and now Mr. Cifer was aiming the second stone at her!

It didn't take her long what he intended to do and brought up her arms to cover her face. _'I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!_ _ **I don't want to die!**_ _'_ She felt something hit her arms, and heard something hit the ground. . . no pain, though.

"Interesting, you people are able to conjure your own spiritual barriers," she heard him say, which had her blink. She quickly brought up her forearms, half-expecting to see a hole or even some blood.

There wasn't even a bruise.

More than that, a pale, black light coated her arms before disappearing. Had she. . . had she unlocked her Aura? When? How?

"Blake, are you okay!?" Adam yelled as he ran to her, checking her for the non-existent injury, then turned to Mr. Cifer. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Partially an experiment, mostly to illustrate my earlier observation." H-He knew she unlocked Aura? "Ever since those Grimm attacked, I sensed a drastic shift in both your reiatsu, and more so, sensed you bring it forth when the claw was descending upon you. I theorized it was a type of barrier, and I had just confirmed it."

Looking at her childhood friend's face, he looked like he was just about to lunge at the ghost, but he didn't. In fact, he looked surprised, his mouth opening and closing like a fish once Mr. Cifer finished saying his part.

"Are you saying I. . . _we_ unlocked our Aura?" So that's why he was surprised, and she knew that feeling. It was just something neither of them could've expected to happen.

"If that is what you call it, then yes, you're 'Aura' has been released. I'll reiterate, it happened when the Grimm attacked recently. Is this a normal event when your life is in mortal danger?"

Dad and mom had their Aura unlocked, and it helped when the humans started throwing rocks at them. Aura was for warriors, and no one, especially her, had expected to unlock it unless your career demanded it.

She had to admit, though, she really liked the idea of having a force field around her, especially one strong enough to stop a stone that can pierce even thick trees.

"Wait, hold on, why not just tell us?" Adam asked angrily. "Why make it look like you're about to kill Blake?"

Yeah! She almost died twice today already, a third was pretty much unprecedented for anyone in her position. First from two jerk humans, then Grimm, and now a ghost-monster thing. . . Ilya's never going to believe it. She'd be insane if she did.

"Due to it being just a theory, I only just recently concluded the best possible experiment to prove it. Using the first pebble to show the threat, and then aiming that threat towards Blake Belladonna to generate the best result. Telling you humans about spiritual abilities would only taint my theory's result."

"And if you're theory was wrong?" she asked.

"In your best-case scenario, you'd have been mortally wounded."

The way he said it without care wasn't okay at all!

"With my theory proven, I have more questions pertaining to reiatsu, or Aura as you call it." Ray-achoo? Just calling Aura was easier, and that's going on a tangent!

"Hold up!" Adam screamed. "You can't just go around almost killing us for your games!"

Like always since she first met him recently, it didn't look like he cared. "What I've done could hardly be called a game, it was merely a recreation of what I sensed. If I wanted either of you dead, there's little challenge either of you could present me, nor the need for such theatrics."

It really didn't make things better.

"So telling us would've tainted the results, and the best way to see your theory was through a life-or-death experiment, am I getting that right?" Adam asked, to which Mr. Cifer nodded. "Is this something you people normally do?"

Cifer took a few seconds of silent thoughts. "Other than the Octava Espada Szayelaporro Granz who experiments regularly, no, this is not a normal occurrence to any other Espada." That's another name she couldn't hope to pronounce. Espada names were weird.

"Please tell me that person's dead, I'd rather not find the guy who makes a career out of it." The Arrancar nodded. "Oh thank goodness." She couldn't help but agree with Adam.

"Mr. Cifer, can you please give us a heads up next time, or better yet, _ask_ us about it before you do something that could kill us?" Just simple things, you know?

"I'll keep that in mind should a similar situation emerge," the ghost answered. That wasn't a straight answer, but considering he was so easily willing to shoot a rock at her and potentially kill her, this might actually be a compromise, and wasn't that a concerning thought? "Now that you realize you're reiatsu has been amplified, does this alter the situation?"

Their reiatsu, his word for Aura. It had to be the word people thousands of years ago used to describe it, which really reminded her of how old this person in front of her was. Though she had another thing on her mind, she had Aura!

Blake turned to Adam. "What're we supposed to do now? Tell Sienna?" She expected they'd have to train with it, it's not like having Aura wasn't without responsibilities. "Are we supposed to be Huntsmen now?"

Adam shook his head, but still took his own moment of thoughtful silence. "We'll tell Sienna," he answered finally. "I think she'll have us learn how to use it." He grinned. "Honestly, I'm excited to see how we can help with the White Fang now that we have Aura."

Yeah, she knew what he meant. Sienna would have them use it for the betterment of faunus, surely. She can be a little harsh at times towards humans, but she had the future in mind, and Blake wanted to help; Adam no doubt wanted that as well.

She turned back to Mr. Cifer. "I guess we'll just continue as normal, but without you stopping to shoot rocks at me." She had enough humans doing that as is. He nodded, so that made things more comfortable. . . only slightly, though.

"A low bar," she heard Adam mumble as he took the lead through the forest, and yeah, he was right. Mr. Cifer's weird, it must've been from his thousands (thousands!) of years away from the world.

She couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to be away from home for so long. If he was a ghost, then that meant he was alive at one point. Not only that, but was he proof of an afterlife? Heaven and hell?

Oh God, she wasn't ready for such existential questions, she was only thirteen!

"So, uh, Mr. Cifer, are you really thousands of years old?" Blake asked. The more she thought on his nature, the more questions it would bring up. _'Questions that could change society as we know it.'_

"That is up for debate." Okay, maybe not, and the knot in her gut loosened. "I can confirm myself being well over two-hundred years of age, but after I was killed, I returned to my dimension several thousand years later."

And things became confusing again.

"So you were killed before turning into a ghost?" And people could live to be two-hundred? Wow! "Did you haunt your killer?" Was that how he became a ghost? Unfinished business?

"No to both accounts. I was already an Arrancar when I was killed before my multi-millennia absence." The confusion continues.

Adam seemed as confused as she was. "That doesn't make sense. How could you be killed if you're already dead?" he asked the question she was just about to bring up.

"Because my soul remained." Proof that he had a soul, that they all had a soul and all the insinuations that come with it. "When one dies, one's soul either remains in the human world or goes to Soul Society. Regardless, each soul could be killed once more, what happens afterward is unknown."

Whoa, death after death? That was pretty dark.

"Is Soul Society the dimension you're from, the one you're talking about?" she asked. Was that what- err, _pre-heaven_ is called? Soul Society, it had a nice homey ring to it. Must be a nice place.

"No, I lived in Heuco Mundo, the dimension where Hollows live, the monsters I previously mentioned who consume souls." She really shouldn't be surprised, he did say he was a monster before, but to say pre-hell was his home was a bit of weight she didn't want.

"O-Oh," Blake stammered. "Is that where all the bad people go?" It's a naïve question, even sounded far too childish for her own ears. And Hollows? An even darker name for what should probably be demons.

"No, it's where all the souls that stood too long in the human world can go after they turn into Hollows." Note to self after she dies, just move on no matter what. "Once a soul lingers, it'll become anguished, and thus the soul gets consumed by the emotion, forming a cavity in its body and transforming into a Hollow before trying to feed their endless hunger with souls and living humans."

Cavity, Hollow, soul-consuming monster, Mr. Cifer wasn't pulling any punches even though he should've. "Is that what you are?" Adam asked worriedly as he kept moving, but now slower and more hesitant. "A Hollow?"

"In a sense, but far more advanced and evolved. As stated, I no longer need to feel the need to staunch my endless hunger with other souls." If he did, there was no surviving him, two children, one thirteen, the other fourteen, neither would stand a chance. "If I were to, even though my hunger has faded, it would be out of novelty, which is useless."

So he's a monster as was by his own account, but not. . . _no longer_ a soul-consuming one. It's hard to imagine him as a regular person when he had that hole in his chest, but if she wanted humans to look past her ears, she had to look past that characteristic of him as well.

"Then why aren't you there, in that Heuco Mundo place," Adam asked a pretty valid question. "If your friends are there, then maybe you should go back." Adam. . .

"I've never felt the need nor the inclination to have bonds with my fellow Espada, so I can hardly consider them friends. Regardless even if I did, Heuco Mundo was empty when I returned the previous day."

Oh, so he was alone? That's pretty sad, actually. "So they all died? I'm sorry," Blake said honestly. What would it have been like if she was the last faunus? She couldn't fathom it.

"All other Espada are no more, but the Hollows that resided in Heuco Mundo are not dead." He really knew how to add the important information only after she showed sympathy, doesn't he? "Evidence suggests that Hollows are now occupying the human world." The soul-consuming monsters were on Remnant. That doesn't sound good at all. "I believe they are now what you call Grimm."

"Could you tell us the important details before you stress us out!?" Adam shouted, which she really agreed with. "Grimm's been around for as long as the history books, and as far as we know, none had a hole in their chest that didn't kill them."

"While possible and this is still only a theory, a Hollow's iconic appearance is it's bone white mask, and seem to be missing from Heuco Mundo. As stated, evidence suggested these Grimm are bastardized version of Hollows due to visual similarities and circumstances. However, if you have a disproving theory, I welcome it."

Adam didn't answer, how could he? To think that Remnant used to be a world without Grimm, it must've been heaven where faunus and humans lived with each other in peace without the threat of extinction pushing them.

What's more, Grimm were actually ghosts themselves? Now that was a wild thought.

"So, these Grimm could be ghosts from Heuco Mundo," Blake repeated. "Wait, if they're ghosts, how can we see them. . . or you, should we be able to see you, even?"

"Normally no, but it was likely due to the increased density in spiritual energy in the surroundings. Somehow, living humans have tenfold the spiritual energy in them than those of my time, and are now able to visually see me and Grimm."

Huh, because people had a level of Aura now, that simple? Blake guessed those stories about mystics calling in a dead relative where only they could see and speak to was just bunch of lies, go figure.

"Alright, enough talk, we're close to the airship we came in with," Adam said. "Last thing we need is Sienna asking why we're talking about ghosts."

Blake gave a relieved sigh, she was happy to see a familiar and friendly face. What a day it's been, to protest horrific labor conditions for faunus in Moromori, get almost killed by two jerk humans, get saved by a Huntsman who turned out to be a strong ghost and knocked them out, get saved again from Grimm, get hit with a subsonic rock and live, and find out there's an afterlife. . . She could really go for a calming book and some tuna.

Adam broke through the tree line and onto a clearing with two bullheads on it. It was a bit away from Moromori and pretty well hidden, and that was the point. The last thing the White Fang needed was the humans coming here and stopping their operation.

They've been here for a week, motivating the faunus in the area to fight against oppression, and today it finally worked. The miners were pushed to their limits by their superiors and went on strike and protested for their rights. Sadly, the humans showed what they thought and now Sienna was going to push things a bit more drastic. It always worked in the end, however, so that's what mattered, right?

"Sienna," Adam called, and Blake could see the older woman and a few others around her, all who came to stop the atrocious conditions in Moromori. Beside her was Ilia, her closest friend aside from Adam. . . why did she look so worried?

"Adam. Blake," Sienna said firmly. "Both of you, come over-" She suddenly stopped talking, and Blake knew why. Mr. Cifer wasn't far behind, and there was no way Sienna wouldn't take note of him. "So it's true. . ."

The look on her face. . . Whatever it was, it was serious.

Blake gulped and took a stepped closer. She looked to Adam for comfort, but he looked apprehensive as she was, and the first thing that came to her mind was that they knew. They knew about Mr. Cifer and what he was, but it can't be right, can it?

"Sienna, what's going on?" Adam asked once the three were close enough, Mr. Cifer seeming content with the two in front to handle the situation. He looked to Ilia, but she just shook her head.

"You tell me, Adam," Sienna said, then turned to Blake. "I heard news that I refused to believe back in Moromori, but from what I see before me, I'm beginning to have doubts."

Okay, good side, it didn't look like they knew about Mr. Cifer and what he was, and this was about something else. Bad side, this something else was enough to have her doubt her own White Fang members.

"Sienna, we can honestly say we don't know what you're talking about," Blake said. Was this because of the protest? That wasn't it, surely. Afterward? Wait, that might be it! "It's because of those two human men, isn't it?" Sienna's eyes narrowed, Adam widened his eyes in realization. "Whatever it is they're saying, it's not true." Humans like those never say the truth.

Sienna Khan frowned. "It'd be difficult for them to lie considering the two humans you speak of were killed."

W-What!?

* * *

 **Fun fact: I was going to have Ulquiorra be introduced into Remnant starting with him killing Summer Rose after specific and unusual circumstances in a failed attempt to 'save' Blake. . . Fun fact!**

 **Please leave a review so I can know what you think. The future of this story depends on it!**


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